Beans and Beef Does Not Always Equal Chili.

There are too many times I stand and stare into the depths of the refrigerator and freezer wondering what to make for dinner. That is also how I come up with many of my spontaneous recipes; boredom, frustration and a "I wonder if..." attitude. Even Josh, the butcher at Blue Mountain Foods, has seen me staring at the meats and poultry, mumbling to myself.  “Can I help you with something?”, he will ask, and I usually respond with, “I am contemplating.”.

Holding a two and one-half pound package of stew beef (beef cubes) in my hand, I wondered what in the world to do with it. Not beef stew again, just did that two weeks ago; not chili, just not in the mood for it and just made it last month anyway. Too much same old, same old! Then I remembered my Taste of Home winning recipe, "Beefy Barbecue Macaroni", but dealing with making cheese sauce and cooking pasta seemed too much trouble.  Sometimes I am just my own worst enemy, especially when it comes to cooking.

Well, this recipe appeared in two separate issues of Taste of Home, and in two of their cookbooks, so guess they liked it as much as my family did.  So, not to be a tease, here is that recipe before I continue on.

 

Beefy Barbecue Macaroni 

 

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

3-1/2 cups cooked elbow macaroni

3/4 cup barbecue sauce

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Dash cayenne pepper

1/4 cup milk

1 Tbsp. butter

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Additional cheddar cheese, optional

Preparation:

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the macaroni, barbecue sauce, pepper.

In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir in cheese until melted. Pour over the macaroni mixture; gently toss to coat. Sprinkle with additional cheese if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

Now back to the main meat (pun intended) of this article.

 

Still having no clue what to create, I decided to trim the stew beef cubes and maybe an idea would come to me, maybe.  Stew beef is essentially all the bit and pieces the butchers cut off steaks and roasts; sometimes there is a good bit of meat left, so they package it up for consumers to buy and make recipes such as chili, beef stew, maybe even kabobs.  However, you should always examine the beef before just throwing it into your pot, as many pieces may need to be trimmed of fat; some might be pure fat themselves.  If you do not want to deal with this process, then go ahead and purchase a nice lean roast and just cut it up into cubes.  With the beef I had, I needed to cut only a little fat off, but I planned on using a crock pot, so made sure they were of uniform size.

Looking around the pantry I found cans of red kidney beans; well just because I was adding beans did not make it chili, right?  These are the ingredients I finally centered on: barbecue sauce, beans, tomatoes, red onion and green bell pepper.  I was going to make a barbecue sauce-based beef stew, but without the traditional vegetables of carrots and potatoes.

Let me tell you that this concoction of mine came out amazing.  The beef was so tender, it basically melted in the mouth; and absorbed the barbecue sauce flavor well.  The tomatoes did not break down into complete mush; the onion and peppers became very soft; usually green bell peppers are harsh in flavor, but they melded in perfectly.  The beans did not become too soft, or remain too firm; as Goldilocks would say, "They were just right".  The smell was intoxicating; the taste was just as equal.  This is the kind of meal you can enjoy as is, or with a side of mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or polenta.  I did not have to add lots of seasonings, or even garlic, as the bottled sauce I used had everything I needed - Jack Daniels Hickory Brown Sugar.  I did not dredge the beef in the flour, then fry it as I did not want to add any more oil into this dish than the nonstick cooking spray added.  Also did not want additional liquids like beef stock as I knew the beef and vegetables would exude their own moisture.  One thing I notice with recipes like this is that the home cook will add pasta to the pot; all well and good, but remember that pasta is like a sponge and will absorb all excess liquids.  A yummy thick sauce was needed for this meal, not anything watery, or so firm a fork would stand up straight in it.

Here is the recipe...

 

BBQ Beef Stew

 

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs. beef cubes; trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch pieces

¼ cup flour

1 ½ cups chopped red onion

½ cup diced green bell pepper

1 cup red kidney beans

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 (19 oz.) bottle BBQ sauce (hickory brown sugar)

 

Preparation:

Spray a 4-quart crock pot with nonstick cooking spray; set on low heat.  Spread beef cubes on bottom and sprinkle flour over all.  Spread other ingredients out in layers: onions, bell pepper, beans and tomatoes.  Pour BBQ sauce on top; cover and cook for 8 hours.

Makes 8 servings.

 

 

Recently, a good friend to our family, who was going out of town for a while, dropped off packages of elk, venison, beef and seafood.  Met this man when I worked, some time ago, at the San Juan Credit Union.  Basically, he took a good liking to Roy, and myself, simply due to, “You’re nice people, and always nice to me, and I want to be nice to you in return.”  Wow, if only this concept was felt, and exhibited, by more people.  Anyway, whenever he has an excess of stocked meat, or whatever, he makes sure to drop off a few packages our way.  Never asks for, or will take, anything in return; it is just what happens when being nice.

But I digress, my point is that my recipes in this article will work well with beef, elk or venison.  Cooking the same old, same old?  Now you can try out something new.  Oh, and have overstock?  Just be nice, and share with other nice people; it really will make you feel all warm and cozy inside your heart.

Mary Cokenour

Instant Pot Win-Win

Me & Clark's Market Manager, Craig Stanley

From January 10^th to 31^st, the Clark’s Market supermarket chain held the “One Pot Winter Warm-Up Recipe Contest” looking for your best one pot winter go-to recipe.  Each store selected one winner, through a voting process, to win an Instant Pot 6-quart.  For San Juan County’s Blanding store, and thank you so much to all the voters, I was the winner!  My crock pot recipe for BBQ Beef Stew will be featured in their deli; so look for the announcement on that and go buy to try!

Now I have to admit that I was a bit nervous playing with the Instant Pot.  Growing up, all I heard was horror stories about pressure cookers blowing up; so we never had one in our home.  However, friends who have been using the Instant Pot, since it came onto the market, reassured me that no nuclear explosion would be erupting in my kitchen.  To soothe my nerves more, my wonderful hubby, Roy, decided this would be a great adventure to experience together.  We made sure to read the instructions together and did the practice test that is recommended…we lived.

Our first real food cooking attempt was a slab of meaty pork ribs; we had perused many a recipe, but kept returning to the ribs.  Normally, making ribs was almost a 24 hour process; making several cups of rub which went on both sides of the ribs; letting them sit, encased in aluminum foil, for twelve hours.  Placing them inside a preheated 180F oven to cook for eight hours; then onto a barbeque grill or under the broiler for that must-have char.  The anticipation alone was enough to drive us crazy, and it just couldn’t be a spontaneous what-to-make-for-dinner decision.

The Instant Pot was going to change the process, especially the long, long waiting period.  First off, the amount of rub used went from two cups to a half cup; no overnight sitting to marinate and infuse the meat.  Our four pound slab was cut into three smaller slabs; two cups of water plus ¼ cup apple cider vinegar already inside the cooking pot.  Placed on the cooking rack, ribs were placed inside; lid sealed, digital timer set for 50 minutes and it was “thunderbirds are a go!” time. 

Half cup all purpose rub on ribs.

Cut into thirds, ribs standing up in pot.

After 50 minutes of pressure cooking.

Ready for 10 minutes under broiler

1 hour 10 minutes to delicious ribs!

 What to serve as a side?  What the heck, might as well pull out the air fryer, prep some Russet potatoes for, what I knew would become, perfectly cooked hand-cut fries.  Didn’t you recently read my article on the pros and cons of an air fryer; those potatoes are good stuff!

While ribs broiled, Air Fryer finished up on the fries.

Oh, in case you enjoy video games, the Instant Pot makes some lovely dinging, ringing musical noises as the lid is sealed or opened.  Now all it needs is a USB port, attach a thumb drive and have my favorite playlist on while cooking; that would be impressive.  Anyway, during the cool down period of ten minutes, then putting the ribs under the broiler for ten minutes; the air fryer was working on those hand-cut fries (yes, I keep the skin on).  Both ribs and fries were ready to eat at the same time; two bbq sauces of brown sugar/hickory and sweet/spicy (love using Sweet Baby Ray’s) and we were in dining heaven.

The Instant Pot ribs were perfect; meat easily off the bone; seasonings from the rub cooked through and only enhanced by the bbq sauce, not overpowered.  From start to finish, a 24 hour process for making ribs was cut down to a mere one hour and ten minutes!

I’ve started collecting recipes for more Instant Pot fun, and downloaded a recipe book, for free, on my Kindle Fire.  This fresh start year of 2019 started off deliciously with an Air Fryer and is continuing with the Instant Pot.  Now if I could win a complete kitchen makeover, there would be no telling what culinary adventures I could get involved with!  Oh no, listening to 80s music on Sirius and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” just began playing; that is foreshadowing big time!

Mary Cokenour

Beans and Beef Doesn't Always Mean Chili.

There are too many times I stand and stare into the depths of the refrigerator and freezer wondering what to make for dinner. That's also how I come up with many of my spontaneous recipes; boredom, frustration and a "I wonder if..." attitude. Holding a two and a half pound package of stew beef (beef cubes) in my hand, I wondered what in the world to do with it. Not beef stew again, just did that two weeks ago; not chili, just not in the mood for it and then I would have to make a truly large batch to share with my mom-in-law which meant going out to the store for more meat. Too much effort! Then I remembered my Taste of Home winning recipe, "Beefy Barbecue Macaroni", but I didn't want to deal with the cheese sauce and wasn't in the mood for pasta. Sometimes I am just my own worst enemy, especially when it comes to cooking.

Still had no clue what to create, so decided to trim the stew beef cubes and maybe an idea would come to me.  Now stew beef is essentially all the bit and pieces the butchers cut off steaks and roasts; sometimes there is a good bit of meat left, so they package it up for consumers to buy and make recipes such as chili, beef stew, maybe even kabobs.  However you should always examine the beef before just throwing it into your pot, as many pieces may need to be trimmed of fat; some might be pure fat themselves.  If you don't want to deal with this process, then go ahead and purchase a nice lean roast and just cut it up yourself.  With the beef I had, I needed to cut only a little fat off, but I finally decided to use the crock pot and made them as uniform to one inch as I could.


Alright, kind of use that recipe I mentioned, but in the crock pot; but no cheese, what am I going to do without cheese?  Looking around the pantry I found cans of red kidney beans; well just because I was adding beans didn't make it chili, right?  These are the ingredients I finally centered on: barbecue sauce, the beans, tomatoes, red onion and green bell pepper.  I was going to make a barbecue sauce based beef stew, but without the traditional vegetables of carrots and potatoes.

Let me tell you that this concoction of mine came out amazing.  The beef was so tender, it basically melted in the mouth; and absorbed the barbecue sauce flavor well.  The tomatoes did not break down into complete mush; the onion and peppers became very soft; usually green bell peppers are harsh in flavor, but they melded in perfectly.  The beans did not become too soft, or remain too firm; as Goldilocks would say, "They were just right".  The smell was intoxicating; the taste was just as equal.  This is the kind of meal you can enjoy as is, or with a side of mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or polenta.  I did not have to add lots of seasonings or even garlic as the bottled sauce I used had everything I needed - Jack Daniels Hickory Brown Sugar.  I didn't dredge the beef in the flour, then fry it; I didn't want to add anymore oil into this dish than the nonstick cooking spray added.  I also didn't want additional liquids like beef stock as I knew the beef and vegetables would exude their own moisture.  One thing I notice with recipes like this is that the home cook will add pasta to the pot; all well and good, but remember that pasta is like a sponge and will absorb all excess liquids.  I wanted a nice thick sauce with this meal, not anything watery, or so firm a fork would stand up straight in it.

Here's the recipe...

BBQ Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs beef cubes; trimmed of fat and cut into 1 inch pieces

¼ cup flour
1 ½ cups chopped red onion
½ cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup red kidney beans
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 (19 oz) bottle bbq sauce (hickory brown sugar)

Preparation:

Spray a 4 quart crock pot with nonstick cooking spray; set on low heat.  Spread beef cubes on bottom and sprinkle flour over all.  Spread other ingredients out in layers: onions, bell pepper, beans and tomatoes.  Pour bbq sauce on top; cover and cook for 8 hours.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

BBQ Beef Stew with Elbow Macaroni



BBQ Beef Stew with Mashed Potatoes